Drug Cartels and U.S. Law Enforcement

Alleged Latin American narco trafficker Sebastian Marset, a 34-year-old Uruguayan described by the DEA as leading a large-scale cocaine network, has been transferred from Bolivian custody to the United States and made his first appearance Monday in federal court in the Eastern District of Virginia on money-laundering conspiracy charges. U.S. prosecutors say Marset’s organization moved tons of cocaine from South America to Europe and generated tens of millions of dollars in proceeds, which he allegedly laundered by buying and sponsoring lower-division soccer teams and even inserting himself into their lineups. He had been one of the DEA’s most wanted fugitives, with a $2 million U.S. bounty, and eluded capture for years before Bolivian authorities arrested him last week in Santa Cruz and announced the seizure of about $15 million in assets, including 16 planes, five homes and firearms. Court documents allege his network operated across Bolivia, Paraguay, Uruguay, Brazil and multiple European countries, and a close associate, Federico Ezequiel Santoro Vassallo, was sentenced in a U.S. court to 15 years’ imprisonment last July after pleading guilty to money laundering. Marset, who previously served a prison term in Uruguay for drug trafficking, faces up to 20 years if convicted on the current U.S. charges, and his capture comes just weeks after Mexican forces killed cartel boss "El Mencho," underscoring a broader U.S.-backed push against major cocaine suppliers that feed the American drug market.